.
Many years ago – very many – I returned “home” with my parents after a short holiday and my father went to collect our mail from his office headquarters in Bangkok.
He came back looking disgruntled and retorted it was all “bills and bad news”.
The bad news was that he was stuck with me for another two weeks, most inconvenient!
.
These days the mail brings begging letters and bumph. Bills are paid electronically, so when one appears in paper form it’s an indication of problems.
Another of those pet peeves.
Medical billing.
.
What is so irritating is the sheer stupidity of the whole thing and that although it appears idiotic, I believe that it is in fact simply a devious way of extorting money from people.
Cynical, isn’t it?
.
When the new government takes over, it will all get sorted out. They plan to simply dismantle the entire system, so no insurance – no more irritating stupidities.
Even more cynical perhaps, but last time we endured this government, my medications cost me hundreds of dollars each month which currently cost less than a hundred.
.
But what am I actually talking about?
Simply, the reason I am being billed is because the service was submitted with an incorrect code. Supposedly.
Medicare will pay for a wellness check but not for a physical exam, never mind that they are the same thing, at least in my case.
I have additional insurance which comes at an escalating premium, but they will only pay if Medicare pays and peanuts at that.
.
Here’s an example of a bill:
Charge of $1,141…
Medicare authorised $42.71
Medicare paid: $34.17
Additional insurance paid $8.54
.
The first time I saw this sort of thing, I nearly had a stroke. Then I recalled the experience of paying my father’s bills some years ago.
He had no insurance so was obliged to pay cash for his radiation treatments, but the hospital was not accustomed to being paid “up front”, so I had to go along to the office .
.
That’s when I discovered the total fiction that is medical billing. The amount billed far exceeds the amount they expect to be paid, so if you foolishly offer cash you’re a muggins.
In the case of my father’s cancer treatments, the amount was sufficiently exorbitant that it was referred up the chain, but I would have been none the wiser.
.
The current bill that is so annoying me is comparative piffle, but it’s the principle of the thing.
The matter was already addressed weeks ago, when I contacted my PCP who told me that in fact she had correctly submitted my file annotated “wellness check” and she would pursue the matter.
.
But here we are again and now the bill sports a red warning: This account is past due.
Once more on the phone to be tormented by discordant music, until the arrival of a person requiring information in an incoherent voice.
Note, I am not deaf and I am very used to understanding many sorts of accents unless the speaker has marbles or possibly snacks in their mouth.
Finally, I offered the essential birth date and thought oh great, now she’ll be imagining I’m a stupid old fart.
We did manage a conversation but not satisfactory, as I have now to contact my PCP once again to have the paperwork re-submitted.
.
If it didn’t happen the first time, why would it now?
Or maybe it did but a different pair of fingers decided to change the code? I have long since lost trust.
The onus is on me to do all the work of sorting out their error, beginning with pestering an over-worked doctor and possibly collecting the paperwork myself.
.
What I suspect they count on is people being either uninformed, or feeble-minded, or just plain too fed up with the whole thing and paying fees they don’t need to.
Because the amount I am being charged is not the amount insurance will pay if the coding is fixed, but good luck getting the medical conglomerate to agree to that!
.
You might wonder why I pay a premium ($360 a month) for insurance that pays out such pitiful amounts. Hardly worth it, is it?
Well, if I was to cancel the policy I would lose the ability to see doctors of my choosing and probably much else.
While the appearance is that my insurance pays paltry amounts, under the table there is obviously a lot more going on.
.
Never mind. It’s all going to be fixed.
Nothing more to worry about.
You think?
,
Footnote: Early this morning, the CEO of my additional insurance company was murdered in New York City, on his way to an annual investor conference.
..
I hope you can account for your whereabouts this morning!
It’s disgusting how governments around the world have and are still forcing people into extortionist private health but then, we receive pittance back.
In Australia, we’ve been going down the US route since 2000, which scares me as I don’t want to be in the position where I need to sell my house to pay for medical expenses.
I feel your pain, Carolyn.
What a mess! Why is it our responsibility to sort out other people’s mistakes?
I want to tell a quick story – nothing to do with medical bills, but when you wrote about those who might have marbles or snacks in their mouths, it reminded me of something that recently happened at our traffic department.
A woman (that’s now the client) asked the information lady a question in perfect English. This lady then mumbled something, but with a mouth full of her sandwich. The client repeated her question twice, but there was no way that she (or anybody else for that matter) could understand this lady mumbling with a mouth full of food! The client then got a little annoyed and said sarcastically: “I wish I could speak better English so you could understand me” and then she walked away. I was next in line … I greeted her friendly and said that I will wait until she finishes her sandwich and then we can have a conversation, otherwise I’m not going to understand her. And what did she say? “Just make sure you speak good English” 😖. I was lost for words!
Ok, now my rant is over and I will go back to the top of your post and enjoy your lovely photos!
It’s not really funny but I had to laugh. I’m trying to picture the BA check-in counter with everyone eating sandwiches! What is the world coming to?
As you say it’s not funny, but it’s actually so laughable! When I think about how service delivery was a top priority in my job (and that was only a few years ago), then situations like this are hard to tolerate. As you have said many times, I much prefer working with animals than people!
Your “rants” are so amusing to read!! Everyone I know who is on Medicare and Supplemental Insurance have the same problems and NO answer in sight. I’m still waiting for the day when a doctor’s office FORGETS to bill me….. 🙂
I am not in the least surprised that the CEO of a medical insurance company was shot dead by someone who wrote on the bullets some of the various reasons why medical insurance is not paid out.
In the past seven days I have seen a doctor, three nurses, had a hospital appointment and X-ray, then had blood taken this morning for tests to see what is wrong with me. I was also supplied with new diuretic medication for 28 days. This was all free of charge to me, because of my 40 years of contributions under the National Insurance scheme. I could certainly never afford to pay the monthly amounts you get charged for healthcare, Carolyn.
Best wishes, Pete.
According to news reports that insurance company is being investigated for fraud. What a surprise.